Wrexham
Wrexham & ShropshireCompanies House extract company no 5970112 Wrexham Shropshire & Marylebone Railway Company Limited was an Open Access Operator in the United Kingdom operating passenger rail services between Wrexham General and London Marylebone from April 2008 until January 2011. History Wrexham & Shropshire was formed in October 2006 as a joint venture between John Laing plc and Renaissance Trains with the aim of operating rail passenger services between Wrexham and London Marylebone as an Open Access Operator.Presentation to Shropshire County Rail Forum Shropshire Council 13 October 2006 The last direct railway service from the area to London had been a Shrewsbury to London Euston service operated by Virgin Trains in 1998/99.Pride of Shrewsbury The Encyclopedia of Modern Traction Names In October 2006 an evaluation service ran from London Marylebone to Wrexham General via the proposed route using the EWS Company Train.Rail Magazine Issue 551 25 October 2006 Page 17New rail company plans direct Wrexham link with London Daily Post' (North Wales) 13 October 2006 In March 2007 Wrexham & Shropshire lodged an application with the Office of Rail Regulation for track access rights to operate services.Application to the Office of Rail Regulation a Passenger Track Access Contract Office of Rail Regulation 5 March 2007 In September 2007 Wrexham & Shropshire were granted access rights from December 2007 for a seven-year period. Track Access Contract between Network Rail Infrastructure Limited and Wrexham Shropshire and Marylebone Railway Company Limited Office of Rail Regulation 10 September 2007 In January 2008 John Laing's rail operations, including its shareholding in Wrexham & Shropshire, were sold to Deutsche Bahn. Deutsche Bahn buys Laing Rail ''Construction News 21 January 2008 After this transcation the shareholders in Wrexham & Shropshire were DB Regio (50%), Renaissance Trains (36%) and John Laing (14%).Wrexham Shropshire & Marylebone Railway Limited Annual Accounts 31 December 2010 Page 21 Operations commenced on 28 April 2008.New direct rail services launches this April Wrexham & Shropshire press release 2 April 2008 Services Route From services ran via , , , , , , and to . From here services would proceed to and either via , and , or via and .Wrexham & Shropshire timetable 13 December 2009 Because of a Moderation of Competition clause inserted into Virgin Trains' Track Access Contract with Network Rail by the government, Wrexham & Shropshire were not able to service a number of West Coast Main Line stations from London. Wrexham & Shropshire's Track Access Contract did not allow it to call at Birmingham New Street or Coventry, although the contract did allow it to could call at Wolverhampton and Birmingham International to pick up only on northbound services and set down only on southbound services, although Wrexham & Shropshire elected not to serve the latter. Likewise to protect Chiltern Railways from revenue abstraction (even though it was owned by DB Regio), northbound services could only pick up and southbound services set down at Banbury. From December 2009 the Banbury restrictions were lifted and services also called at . The Leamington Spa stops were removed in May 2010Sixteenth Supplemental Agreement to the Track Access Agreement Network Rail 2 December 2010 after the Department for Transport found that revenue had been abstracted from Chiltern Railways.Notice Imposing a Penalty Pursuant to Section 57A of the Railways Act 1993 Department for Transport 16 June 2011Chiltern Railways fined for breaking franchise agreement Birmingham Post 16 June 2011 Diversionary routes During weekend engineering works, Wrexham & Shropshire services were frequently diverted. When the Wrexham - Shrewsbury line was closed services operated from Wrexham General to Shrewsbury via Chester and Crewe. When the Shrewsbury - Wolverhampton line was closed services reversed at Shrewsbury before reversing again at Crewe and proceeding via Stafford to Wolverhampton. When the line south of Birmingham was closed, services operated via the West Coast Main Line, Willesden Junction, Acton Junction and Ealing Broadway to South Ruislip before reversing to reach Marylebone. When the South Ruislip - Marylebone line was closed services would be diverted to London Paddington.Thirteenth Supplemental Agreement to the Track Access Agreement Network Rail 20 January 2010 Timetable Wrexham & Shropshire's initial timetable was for five trains per weekday between Wrexham and London with a journey time of approximately 4 hours, 15 minutes.Wrexham & Shropshire timetable April 2008 Wrexham & Shropshire In March 2009 the weekday service was reduced to four trains per day with one cut back to only operate from London to Shrewsbury,Firms cuts off-peak rail services BBC News 3 March 2009 Wrexham & Shropshire citing the economic downturn for the cancelled services. From July until September 2010 a fourth Saturday service was operated. In December 2010 the weekday service was reduced further to three per day, with insufficient customer demand being cited as the reason. Performance In the Spring 2010 National Passenger Survey by Passenger Focus, the independent rail watchdog, Wrexham & Shropshire scored a 99% satisfaction rating - the highest rating in the survey's history. Performance figures released by the Office for Rail Regulation rated Wrexham and Shropshire at 88.1% PPM for the second quarter of the 2010-11 financial year. Rival service In February 2008 Virgin Trains announced that it would operate a direct service between Wrexham General and Euston on a trial basis from December 2008, with a morning southbound and evening northbound service. Virgin's service operated from Wrexham General via Chester and Crewe to London Euston along the West Coast Main Line using [[British Rail Class 221|Class 221 Super Voyagers]], with a journey time of approximately 2½ hours, compared with Wrexham & Shropshire's average of 4 hours. As this was an extension of a Chester - Euston service, it did not serve stations in Shropshire or the West Midlands. Threat of withdrawal of service Arriva Trains Wales lodged an application with the Office of Rail Regulation to operate two daily trains from to London Marylebone. The application was rejected in February 2010 because the Office of Rail Regulation was concerned about the financial viability of the service.Arriva Trains Wales Limited 38th Supplemental Agreement Office of Rail Regulation 26 February 2010 DB Regio had stated that if the application was successful that it would cease funding Wrexham & Shropshire and operations would cease.The Wrexham Shropshire and Marylebone Railway Company Limited Arriva Trains Wales 38th Supplemental Agreement Wrexham & Shropshire letter 19 October 2009 Rolling stock at London Marylebone]] at London Marylebone]] trailing a set of Cargo-D Mark 3s]] Wrexham & Shropshire's original plans had envisaged using Class 158 or Class 170 diesel multiple units, but a lack of available stock saw the locomotive hauled option adopted. Services were operated by a DB Schenker Class 67, Mark 3 carriages and a Driving Van Trailer. To operate the service, DB Regio purchased a fleet of ex Virgin West Coast Mark 3s and Driving Van Trailers and put them through a refurbishment programme at Marcroft Engineering, Stoke-on-Trent. A dedicated fleet of four Class 67s were repainted in Wrexham & Shropshire livery ready for the launch in April 2008 followed by a fifth in April 2009. When services commenced, none of the carriages were ready so Mark 3s were hired from Cargo-D and operated in top and tail with a Class 67 at each end. The Driving Van Trailers entered service in October 2008, but it would be September 2009 before the first Mark 3s were ready. Originally the four sets consisted of three Mark 3s, this was later increased to four from May 2009 although these were not refurbished internally. Chiltern Railways Class 168s were cleared to operate on Wrexham & Shropshire's route and reached Shrewsbury on at least one occasion. With the reduction in service levels from December 2010, a Mark 3 set was hired to Chiltern Railways to operate a Birmingham Moor Street to London Marylebone peak-hour service.Chiltern commence Birmingham loco-hauled Rail Express 14 December 2010 Refurbishment gallery Image:A First Refurbished Train Launch.JPG|The first refurbished rake of Mark 3 carriages at London Marylebone on 30 September 2009 during the launch event Image:F Mark IIIA RFM 10208.JPG|Refurbished Mark 3A RFM 10208 Image:J Mark IIIA RFM 10208 First Class Half Internal.JPG|Refurbished first-class interior of Mark 3A RFM 10208 Image:N Mark IIIA TSO 12127.JPG|Refurbished Mark 3A TSO 12127 Image:Q Mark IIIA TSO 12127 Standard Class Interior.JPG|Refurbished interior of standard class Image:T Mark IIIA TSO 12145.JPG|Refurbished Mark 3A TSO 12145 Image:V Class 67 67015.JPG|67015 brought the first refurbished train set into London Marylebone Fleet Depots The Mark 3 sets were based at Chiltern Railway's Aylesbury depot. They were also stabled at Wembley depot and in the bay platforms at the south end of Wrexham General that were reactivated. Proposed merger with Chiltern Railways in Chiltern Railways livery at Shrewsbury]] In September 2009 Wrexham & Shropshire announced that from the beginning of 2010, it hoped to transfer operation of the Wrexham & Shropshire branded services to fellow DB Regio subsidiary Chiltern Railways. In light of the problems encountered with Wrexham & Shropshire abstracting revenue from Chiltern Railways, the Department for Transport did not sanction the merge.Form 22 Office of Rail Regulation Welsh Assembly funding In October 2006 the Welsh Assembly announced that Wrexham & Shropshire did not qualify for employment grants which it had intended to use to improve the facilities at Wrexham General railway station in order to turn it into the company's operational centre. This led to speculation that, if the funding could not be found, the company might have to move to Shrewsbury, which would affect the number of services it could run to/from Wrexham. However, in November 2006 the Welsh Assembly announced that the Wrexham & Shropshire was eligible for the grant and, as a result, a site survey at Wrexham General was undertaken. The depot would be open to all train-operating companies. Demise On 28 January 2011 operations ceased after a review concluded there was no prospect of the business ever being profitable. Wrexham & Shropshire to cease operations on Friday 28 January Wrexham & ShropshireWrexham & Shropshire railway company to cease operating Daily Post (North Wales) 26 January 2011 The last train was the 18:30 from London Marylebone to Wrexham General. The trains operated by Wrexham and Shropshire has since been transferred to sister companies Arriva Trains Wales and Chiltern Railways. See also *Railways of Shropshire References External links *WSMR revised track access application on the ORR website *Suzanne Roberts Train service could bring boost Shropshire Star, 8 January 2007 *Direct London train for Wrexham BBC News, 1 February 2006 *New rail link between Shropshire and London BBC Shropshire, 8 December 2006 *April 2006/minutes.htm Presentation given to Shrewsbury and Atcham borough council *Laing Rail *Renaissance Trains Category:Transport in Wrexham county borough Category:Rail transport in Shropshire Category:Rail transport in Wolverhampton Category:Rail transport in Oxfordshire Category:Open-access train operating companies Category:Renaissance Trains Category:John Laing Category:Railway companies established in 2008 Category:Defunct train operating companies Category:Railway companies disestablished in 2011